Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/06/643.asp

9/9/2005

UK: Secret Deal to Quash Speed Camera Tickets
Speed camera operators fearing legal defeat on appeal offer a settlement deal with a gag order clause.

The Avon and Somerset Safety Camera Partnership is offering a deal to thirteen motorists who believe they were wrongly convicted of speeding on the A370 in Bristol, UK. Their mobile speed camera convictions will be dropped and points removed from their licenses -- but only if they agree to keep it a secret.

"They got it wrong and should correct their mistake, but instead want to hide behind smoke and mirrors," Richard Barclay, one of the defendants, told the Bristol Evening Post.

Barclay has rejected any settlement offer that comes with a gag order. "One of the reasons I am doing this is out of principle, not just to get the £60 back, as I have already had to fork out a lot of money to get this far," Barclay said.

The speed camera partnership wants to avoid a court appeal along with all the negative publicity it would generate. About 200 people were convicted at the same location, with two individuals already having successfully overturned their convictions in court.

Source: Keep quiet, and we'll quash your conviction (Bristol Evening Post (UK), 9/8/2005)

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